Panda bear. I’m FINE.

Although she was relieved at Cara’s answer, Molly was still immensely curious about where her sister could be. Telling herself firmly that it was none of her business and, as she’d told John, Cara was an adult who could go wherever she wanted without having to explain herself to her nosy older sister, she pocketed her phone.

“Do we need to go save Cara?” John asked, and she shot him a sharp look. He’d asked so calmly, yet seriously, and was obviously fully prepared to mount a sister rescue mission if it was necessary. Her heart did a funny little skip, and she could feel her defenses against John Carmondy crumbling even more. How could she keep from liking him when he went all white knight in defense of her sisters?

“No. She answered the Did your abductor take your phone and text for you? question right, so she really is okay. I’m just not sure where she is. Let’s head to Dutch’s before I’m tempted to track her phone.”

John looked a bit disappointed, making her think that he’d been hoping to do some tracking—or that he just wanted to put off their search for Sonny. He gestured toward the stairs, and Molly descended them in front of him. Normally, she liked to keep everyone who wasn’t family—actually, everyone who wasn’t her sisters—in her sights, since her years in bail recovery had taught her that she never could predict what panicked and desperate people would do. Strangely, she was comfortable with John behind her. For some reason, she trusted him to watch her back.

Surprised and a little discomfited by this realization, she glanced at him over her shoulder.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” It came out too quickly, and she hurried to face forward again, making a beeline for the front door.

“Now I really want to know.” Laughter underscored his words, and she sighed soundlessly.

Unlocking and opening the front door, she didn’t look at him as she walked outside. “Sometimes, Carmondy, nothing really means nothing.”

Now she just had to convince herself. Despite her best efforts, her feelings toward John were starting to turn into a very scary and confusing something.

Chapter 11

Although he grumbled, he didn’t ask again as he followed her out onto the porch, easing the screen door closed so it didn’t smack against the jamb like it usually did. She scanned the street, looking for any suspicious people or vehicles. Except for John’s SUV, the road and driveways were empty, the neighbors’ cars tucked neatly away in their oversize garages. Molly relaxed a hair.

“I guess there is an upside to living in a Stepford neighborhood,” she muttered, making John laugh.

“I’ve been wondering why you live here,” he said, swinging his arm in a wide gesture that encompassed the entire area, from the pin-tucked lawns to the wrought-iron gate bordering the resort’s property. “It doesn’t seem to suit you.”

“It belonged to Victor, the twins’ dad and my favorite of the stepfathers. It’s been in his family for decades.” As she climbed into the front passenger seat of John’s SUV, she wondered why she was sharing personal details with him. It might’ve been because she was still a little shell-shocked by the realization that she trusted him, or it could’ve been that he gave off the impression that she could tell him anything, and he’d keep her secrets safe.